Some people here chose to attend IGS, maybe they joined half way through year 11 at the start of year seven or at the end of year 4. I didn’t though. I was enrolled to come here at the age of one and started at 3. There was no choice made by me, but every day I am increasingly thankful for the decision that was made on my behalf. When I am asked about my high school as a new graduate I’m able to truly reflect on my journey, not just what week it was but the whole picture from preschool to graduation. Everything. I think about it all, every single friend I made even if we weren’t the closest I think about the extensive impact they had on my school journey and will continue to have on my life. The same goes for teachers, how who I am was constantly being molded by whoever was teaching me maths, science or English. How it became more than Shakespeare or algebra. I was being taught how to be a better human through empathy, kindness and care, things that I doubt I would have learnt if I were at another school. For that I thank IGS.
I will forever be grateful for what IGS has given me. It connected me to my culture in ways that nothing else could have. I’m not the son of a first generation immigrant, I’m quite boring to be honest. However, my grandfather was, in fact, his first language was Italian. He could barely speak any English, so little that one day a letter was sent home in his bag to his Italian parents forcing them to stop speaking their language, so my grandfather could learn English. Like that Italian was no longer spoken in my family, the strongest connection that tied them to where they were from was severed with that letter. However, when my mother heard about IGS the school that taught children languages at the age of three she knew to send me there. So that the connection that was destroyed for her and her father could be repaired for my brother and I. Repaired it because through IGS many years later I was able to live in Italy, adjacent to where my family was originally from and visit them as their Australian cousin who they could speak with, joke with and share stories with in Italian. For that I thank IGS.
Now that I am moving into adulthood, I’m realising just how well IGS has prepared me for the world. It’s because of the environment we grew up in, one that actually lived its values, not just printed them on a website. Our school vision is literally Unity Through Diversity, but more importantly, it’s something we see every day. We didn’t just learn about different cultures in textbooks, we lived alongside them. We learnt how to listen, how to respect differences, how to have conversations with people whose lives looked nothing like our own. And it wasn’t forced or awkward or treated like a lesson, it was just normal. It was what school felt like. And I think that’s what makes IGS special. That sense that the world is bigger than you, but also that you have a place in it. That you can walk into any room, any country, any culture, any situation and feel like you belong there, or at least like you can find your own way. That’s not something every school can give you, and for that I thank IGS.
Throughout this year a lot has happened, more that I could’ve imagined as a year 11 student going into year 12. I’m not saying this to strike fear into any of you. I say it because I’m grateful for all that has happened. However throughout the whole year, through all my trials and tribulations there has been an inescapable task, that I have been thinking about since a year ago to the day, this speech. The more I have been typing words, finding synonyms and deleting pages because I need to restart. I began to realise that this is my last moment at IGS and the more I talk the more it’s fading. I would like to finish my 15 year journey with some advice that you’ve all heard a million times before, so I will try to word it in my best manner. Please cherish these moments, every laugh you share with classmates you barely know. Every lunch that goes by so fast that when you check your phone already it’s 2:01 and you’re sprinting down the Broadway escalators. Every time you’re able to see your closest friends at
the gates and that four o’clock finish seems a lot sooner. Genuinely cherish every moment not just the great ones but the mediocre ones too, and even some of the bad, because to quote my favourite film “I know these will all be stories some day and our pictures will become old photographs, we all become somebodies mum and dad but right now these moments are not stories this is happening “ so don’t waste a moment.
Thank you.
